


quarantine

by jessequicksters



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, College AU, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Human AU, M/M, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/M, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:27:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23951548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessequicksters/pseuds/jessequicksters
Summary: Twilight College AU! Jacob visits Bella's university dorm in Glasgow and gets stuck in quarantine with her and her boyfriend, Edward Cullen.
Relationships: Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Jacob Black/Bella Swan, Jacob Black/Edward Cullen, Jacob Black/Edward Cullen/Bella Swan
Comments: 8
Kudos: 207





	quarantine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [illea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/illea/gifts).



It wasn’t exactly the _ideal_ situation, for anyone involved. It was Bella’s birthday, so of course, Jacob was going to fly halfway across the world, a gift in hand, to meet her on the front doorstep of her college dorm in the rainy city of Glasgow.

What neither of them had anticipated, was for the plague to strike that very same weekend.

So here he was, stuck in Bella’s dorm, sitting on the sofa as Bella made dinner for him and her _boyfriend_.

Yeah. His name is Edward Cullen, and he’s the only reason why Bella has chosen to leave Forks and move all the way across the Atlantic. She took a couple of spring classes there in senior year and has somehow met her prince charming, all-consuming bloody valentine of the North, and after spending an entire year listening to her babbling on about Edward this and Edward that, Jacob can finally say—he just doesn’t get it.

Edward stares at him from across the room like he’s an angry hipster album waiting to eat him alive. He’s cold, curt, hardly as polite as Bella described him, and now he’s stuck with him for the undetermined future.

The thought of making him miserable brings a smile to Jacob’s lips.

“So, Jake,” Bella says, dicing up an onion by the counter. “How have you been? How’s your dad?”

“Good, good. We’ve been spending a lot of time with Sam and the other boys in town. He thinks I need to get to really get involved in the community more.”

Bella smiles. “That’s great, Jake—that’s, so good. I remember the days when you wanted nothing to do with them. I guess they’ve warmed up to you now?”

“More of a mutual warming up,” Jake replies, and Bella suddenly bites down a hiss.

“Ow!” she says, dropping the knife on the counter.

Jacob immediately runs towards her, and so does Edward.

“Bella?” Edward says.

“What happened?” Jacob asks, looking over her shoulder as he moves her hair back to get a closer look. Edward is staring daggers at him.

“Don’t touch her.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize Bella was your property,” Jacob replies.

“Guys, just stop—it’s just a small cut. I’ll wash it off. Edward, do you know where the bandages are in the house?”

Edward nods and goes into the other room. The only other room in this one-bedroom flat. Jacob wonders how much time he spends here. Then the thought hits him. Is he going to be sleeping on the sofa while the two of them—ah, _shit_.

**-**

After a very awkward dinner, Edward offers to brave the outside to grab some groceries. No one knows how long this is going to last. Jacob wouldn’t mind really if it was going to be like this the whole time, him and Bella on the sofa watching scary movies in the evening.

He notices the way Bella comfortably curls into his chest with a blanket over the two of them. The two of them have always just _fit_. Easy as breathing. So he really can’t comprehend why Bella is shacking up with this stone-cold serial killer these days.

“You’re really warm, Jake,” Bella says.

Jacob laughs. “Edward didn’t offer to pay your heating bills?”

She punches him in the stomach, though he’s much harder around the torso than he used to be. She frowns as her knuckles meet concrete.

“You’ve changed so much. I barely recognized you when you came through the door, you know.”

Jacob turns to face her, brown eyes looking up at him.

“I’m still the same person, Bells. And so are you. Why don’t you open up your birthday gift?”

Bella’s eyes light up; among the news broadcasts, panic flight cancellations, Edward and Jacob an inch away from drawing knives out, they barely had any time to celebrate. Apparently, Edward had made her an elaborate brunch picnic set this morning, sat among a field of flowers in a park somewhere.

He tries not to think about that, though. Because he knows Bella. He knows what she likes—what she loves, even.

So when Bella asks him to help her put on the new wolf necklace he made her, it takes everything in him not to let his hands linger on the back of her neck, soft skin, and plant kisses all over her pale shoulders. God knows she needs a little bit of warmth in her life, here.

In fact, Jacob was so certain that he knew Bella, until she turns around and kisses him, catching him completely off guard.

He melts into her and doesn’t even notice when the door flies open.

**-**

A week passes, and then two, and Jacob loses any and all hope of flying back anytime soon. Borders remain closed. Shops, restaurants and doors everywhere remain closed. He learns to live with Bella and Edward in this tiny dorm room and quickly enough. The two of them become his world, good or bad as that might be.

At first, Bella insisted that the kiss was a _mistake_ , and god, does Jacob hate that word more than anything else. They don’t speak about it with Edward, though Jacob doesn’t know what goes on behind closed doors when he’s reading on the sofa in the evenings or out on his daily runs outside.

But then it happens again. One day after Bella and Edward had a fight about something. Jacob couldn’t make out the details of it. Edward gets booted out of the room and Jacob walks in there bringing her dinner when he still refuses to go inside.

And more happens this time, with Bella tugging at his shirt and telling him, _you’ve been so good to me, Jake,_ and _I need you so much, Jake_. It drives him crazy, all these things that only come out in short bursts, like flutters of fireflies you try to catch in a jar. They die out so quickly, disappear with the morning light, and that’s how it feels with Bella sometimes.

It frustrates him to no end. Knowing that she’s here and he can’t just _be_ with her, he has to be with Edward, too.

One day as Jacob and Edward are driving back from a grocery pick-up in Edward’s car, Edward does the strange thing of actually _talking._

“You can’t take her away from me,” he says, eyes still on the road.

“If she wants me, that’s not your decision to make,” Jacob replies.

Edward’s mouth twists into something that resembles a smile.

“That’s not… what I meant. She loves me, Jacob. I’m trying to tell you, that if you expect her to run off with you, you will be disappointed. I’m selfish, yes, but I’m not cruel enough to watch you walk right into a devastating heartbreak.”

Jacob can’t believe the nerve of this man.

“Well, that’s truly kind of you. So, what’s your ideal scenario then—your sunset dream for you and Bella?”

His smile is warmer this time. “I just want her to be happy.”

“And what if that means having me in her life?”

Without missing a beat, Edward replies, “Then she’ll have you, too.”

**-**

After more than a month of being confined with Edward Cullen, Jacob is almost ready to admit that the man isn’t as bad as he thought. Sure, he spends ages in the shower, barely ever eats any of his cooking, and talks to Bella sometimes like he’s from the 1920’s—but he does it all with a certain sense of respect and dignity. Like he’s doing his best not to accidentally unleash some harsher, wilder, side of him. If he wasn’t so repressed, Jacob thinks they’d have an easier time getting along.

And god, is the man repressed.

Jacob eventually learns the reason behind him and Bella’s occasional spats. Edward is old-school when it comes to sex. Like, old, old-school.

“You're going to marry him?” Jacob spills an entire tray of ice they just filled with water.

Bella is immediately apologetic like she has become since meeting Edward.

“I’m sorry, Jake. It’s none of your business. I shouldn’t have told you.”

“None of my business?” Jacob retorts. “Bella, I’ve seen the way you look at me. You’re falling in love with me.”

Bella replies with, “No, I’m not.”

Jacob wants to laugh at what he’s about to say next, because who would’ve thought that he’d finally be batting for team Edward Cullen?

He sits Bella down at the sofa, looks her straight in the eyes and tries not to get lost in her before making a point.

“Bella, this wouldn’t be fair to him. I know Edward and I… aren’t exactly the best of friends,” he starts, and Bella snorts a little. He’s glad to see her relax at that.

“I’ve noticed.”

“He really loves you, Bella. I see the way he makes you breakfast every morning before you’ve even gotten out of bed, the way he really listens to you when you talk to him, the way he recites poetry to you over lunch like it's a menu, the way he _wants_ you to chase after your dreams, even if it means leaving him behind. He’d do anything for you, Bella, walk into the middle of a plague-ridden city to grab you a croissant if it means making you happy.”

“Well, that’s why I’m marrying him…” Bella looks at her hands.

“No, it’s not. It’s because he won’t sleep with you until you do.”

Bella starts to stutter, “That’s not? No, not at all, that’s not what this is about—”

“Bella,” Edward’s voice cuts into the room. Oh, dear. He looks worse than he did that first night when he walked in on their kiss.

“I told you, I didn’t want you to say yes because of _that_.” He looks utterly broken. Jacob actually feels for the guy.

“Edward no,” Bella stands, but he’s already putting his coat back on and turning towards the door.

“Please don’t lie to me, Bella. You’re terrible at it, and I hate watching you do it.” And without another word, Edward is gone.

Jacob sighs because he really doesn’t like being the bigger man in these situations.

**-**

“How did you find me?” Edward asks, standing at the edge of a hill overlooking the city in the middle of the rain.

Jacob’s panting, because yes, he _ran_ all the way here to chase Edward fucking Cullen, who drove off in a Volvo.

“GPS on your car,” Jacob says. “I’m a tracker like that.”

Edward half-laughs.

“At least I don’t do it to Bella,” Jacob says.

Edward lunges towards him, fists grabbing for his shirt as Jacob slips and falls down into the cold, muddy ground. Great. Now there’s going to be a fight for the shower, too.

“I know you’ve hurt Bella in the past,” Edward says, limbs wrapped around him like some kind of cold-blooded animal. “You broke her heart. On the flight here, at the beginning of the school year, she couldn’t stop crying because of _you_.”

Jacob shoves him off and manages to get back up on his feet. “Only because I couldn’t stand the idea of her running off halfway across the world with somebody she barely even knew. Do you know how worried I was? I’d never even met you then. Not a thing about you—and yet, you managed to somehow take up so much space inside of her. It was like I didn’t know… who she was, whenever she talked about you. I didn’t know if _she_ knew who she was.”

He looks at Edward, sighing on the ground. He’s even shivering. Jacob didn’t think the man had blood inside him.

“What is it with you, anyway? You say you’ll do anything for her, but not the one thing she actually wants,” Jacob says.

“Is it so wrong to want to keep one rule for myself?”

Jacob tries not to scoff. Who is this guy, really? How did Bella even find him?

“If we keep this up, we’re going to hurt her. And neither of us want that to happen,” Edward says all of a sudden, after what felt like an eternity of silence.

“Agreed.”

“I know… she loves you. She might not know it yet, but she does.”

Now, that’s new.

“I don’t know… what to do about you,” Edward says, like Jacob’s an overstuffed bin bag taking up space in their room. Well, actually…

He continues, “But you can’t go. Not now. I just know that she’s happy when she’s with you, in a way I’ve never seen before. I’ll talk her out of the engagement—she’s clearly not ready. So please, just, from now on. Behave.”

Jacob scoops him from the ground like a pathetic dog in the rain and drives them back home, maxing out the heaters in the Volvo. Christ, the man’s basically given himself hypothermia. And for what? A fiancée who can’t even make up her mind about who she wants? What she wants?

As much as Jacob loves her to death, that’s not what occupies his thoughts that evening.

Bella is, predictably, in a state of panic when they return. She works on trying to fix their heaters when Edward gets back. Jacob has to carry him into Bella’s room, dry him off with a towel, and wrap him in a warm blanket.

He can’t believe he’s doing this.

And then Edward links his fingers around Jacob’s as he falls asleep in his lap, and Bella walks in bringing soup.

**-**

Things calm down in the flat after that evening. There’s a quiet recognition between the three of them, as if saying to each other: _it’s okay, we’re okay, let’s just take a moment to pause_.

Jacob actually makes the effort to talk to Edward about something other than Bella. He learns that Edward comes from a distinguished family full of all sorts of overachievers. He’s a psych major. He likes baseball. Jacob likes baseball, too.

“I like hiking with my family sometimes,” Edward says over brunch one day as Bella has her nose deep in a book about vampires and werewolves.

“I’ll add it to the list of the things we have in common,” Jacob replies, shoving a forkful of French toast into his mouth. _Number two_ on the list.

“You sure you can keep up with it all?” Edward smiles from the corner of his mouth, bringing the cup of coffee to his lips. The light from the window enters and settles itself on Edward’s face. His eyes are glowing amber. His features look sharp and strong, and Jacob hasn’t noticed this before, but there’s a certain glimmer to him that radiates particularly beautifully under the sun.

Oh, _shit._

He looks over to see Bella, stretching on the sofa, beautiful brown hair tipping over the edge of the armrest, soaking in the rays.

**-**

“Yeah, Dad. Everything’s fine, here. Good to know that Sam and Leah are still coming by to drop off supplies for you. Let me know if there’s anything I can do. Hope to be back soon. I love you, Dad,” Jacob says, hanging up from the phone.

He lets out a breath and flops into the sofa. It’s been two months, now. He can hardly believe how fast the world has changed since that flight out of Washington. There’s a certain stillness to living now, juxtaposed with the knowledge of unrelenting pain spreading like wildfires out in the world. He can’t seem to reconcile it with himself, and being far away from home makes it harder, too.

“Hey, Jake,” Bella says, walking into the living room for a glass of water in the middle of the night. “Was that your dad? Is he…?”

“He’s good, Bells,” Jacob smiles weakly. “I just… it’s hard, being out here. You must feel the same way with Charlie.”

Bella sits with him and nods. “Yeah. It’s crazy. He’s worried about me too, but less now. Now that you’re with me.”

“Edward wasn’t enough?”

“Was Edward enough for you?”

Jacob goes quiet.

Bella rests a hand on his shoulder, and Jacob tenses up. This isn’t going to be one of those nights, or is it?

“If you’re feeling… maybe, alone, or anything. Maybe if this isn’t—if it’s not enough for you, then you’re welcome to come into the bedroom, with me and Edward.”

Jacob blinks. “Oh.”

“It’s not like—Edward says it’s okay. He didn’t want you to be alone either. He’s asleep, though. I mean, we’ve talked about it before. It’s just that…” she takes a deep breath, pressing her face in her hands, before grabbing him, “I love you, Jacob. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to admit it. I know it’s all a mess, but I never want to make you feel less than him in any way. You’re my best friend.”

Bella’s hands feel so cold, and Jacob slips them into his and clasps them gently, massaging her wrists in smooth, slow motions.

It’s funny, the fact that this is the moment he’s been waiting for his entire life, and yet, the only thing Jacob can seem to do is let out an exhale of relief and laugh.

“Bella Swan, I love you too,” he replies and kisses her before carrying her back to bed.

**-**

It starts with Bella in the middle, most of the time, with her curled up into Edward’s chest as Jacob spoons her from behind. But it then turns into Jacob, human radiator, in between the two of them, as they both curled up into him during cold nights.

It happens one night, as Bella’s drawing circles on the muscles on his back and kissing his shoulders slowly, carefully, like the way people count sheep to fall asleep.

Edward’s eyes are bright torches in the night.

Jacob feels his breathing sharpen, all of a sudden. They’ve never been this close, not face-to-face like this, and certainly not with the unbreakable gaze they’re currently holding with each other. Tidal waves, meet the moon.

Without a word, Edward lifts a hand up to Jacob’s chest, shirtless and exposed. He presses a finger on his heart, picking up on the beats speeding up, eyes fluttering back up to look at him with a coy gaze.

Jacob can’t seem to do anything but watch him, mesmerized as he trails a finger up to his collarbone, tracing the strong shape of it all the way across, from right to left, left to right, back to the center. A thumb on his Adam’s apple. Four fingers under his neck. A finger on his lips.

Two can play that game, Jacob thinks, gathering what little willpower he had left in him. He feels himself shiver, and Bella’s no longer tracing circles in his back. Maybe she’s asleep. He doesn’t really care.

Slowly, like a certain snake around a certain apple, Jacob wraps his lips around Edward’s finger, tongue brushing on the underside of it. Edward lets out a tiny gasp, shifting his legs under the sheets. Jacob smiles.

He leans in because he’s learned that Edward’s not one to make bold first moves, brushing a hand in his hair as Jacob tugs him closer for a kiss.

It wasn’t meant to sound as desperate as it did, judging by the moan he let out. Edward doesn’t seem to have it in him to try to downplay it, either, as he lets out a growl when they both break apart for air and he’s begging for more.

Edward bites down on his lip and doesn’t apologize for it. Good. Jacob is sick to death of apologies being thrown around in this house like a goddamn currency.

He rolls on top of Edward and grinds down onto him. Blankets get shoved around and tangled, their breathing gets heavy and loud, and suddenly Bella is wide-awake, eyes on them.

Edward immediately reaches out to stroke her face in his hand, and says the quietest, “ _C’mere_ ,” Jacob has ever heard in his life.

**-**

Bella loves it when Jacob holds her as she’s on top of him; legs wrapped around him like the world’s tightest, most beautiful ribbon. The two of them kiss Jacob to sleep most nights; kissing him, touching him, mouths and tongues _everywhere_ on him. He’s never seen eyes more beautiful than both of theirs; looking up at him as he’s drenched in sweat on the bed and coming so loud the birds wake up in the middle of the night.

Edward likes it when Jacob moves inside him so hard until he’s red all over, and he’s crying, and Bella’s also crying under his lips and his touch, and Jacob realizes that people really like crying around here. Bella likes it when both of them are inside her; she particularly loves it when they’re in the kitchen at the same time together in the morning, making elaborate brunch meals that keep them full for a whole weekend.

Eventually, Edward learns to give Bella what she wants, in exactly the way she wants it. It took a long time to convince him that she’s not as brittle as she seems, but with Jacob around, it gives him some peace of mind that there’s someone else looking out for them.

And that’s really the only thing any of them could ask for. Life starts moving again, though slowly; there are small signs of flowers blooming outside, but the only thing that matters is that they’re finally looking after each other.

**EPILOGUE**

“So,” Jacob says one morning, frying three pans full of bacon, the smoke sizzling in the air. Bella’s already opening the windows in anticipation of the fire alarms going berserk.

Edward smiles at him and asks, “What?”

“I guess I should apologize for making you break your one rule,” Jacob replies. Bella hears it and laughs from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, Edward. We’re really sorry,” Bella says.

Edward just rolls his eyes and cracks an egg into a pan, oil splattering into the air. “Only because you two are so good at _begging_.”

**FIN**


End file.
